This story “Sweet Dreams” by Molly Pelavin was shocking to me because it is my worst nightmare. I would not know what to do if my mother died. In the she was a 4 year old girl and discovered that death was permanent and feared it. When she turned 8 it became a childish fear, but one night she was in her room doing her homework and her dad went to check on her mom who had been fighting breast cancer for five years. When he was checking on her, he realized she wasn't breathing; she was dead. Just then it was close to Christmas time and she hadn't given her mom her Christmas gift yet. It was a small bottle of lotion combining all the lotions in the house. It took her a while to actually cry and realize what happened.

This story reminds me of this past summer when my close friend’s father died of cancer. She was very scared of when the death was going to happen because the nurses told them that he could not get cured because they had tried everything. It happened the same way Molly’s happened: my friend was just sitting in her room when her mom went to check on her dad, and he was gone. She still has not realized the fact that he is gone forever and doesn't know when that time is going to come.

I really enjoyed the story and once I read it I was reminded of my friend and the summer. I really was happy that Molly shared this story because I think it will help teens who have had that kind of death in their family realize that it happens to other people, and that they will be ok because other people feel the same way.